![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() SkateBIRD fully delivers on this idiosyncratic avian premise. Couple that soft spot with my childhood nostalgia for skateboarding games like the massively successful Tony Hawk series, and SkateBIRD felt like an instant all-timer once I could get my talons on it. Readers of Epilogue will know that I will play almost any game, especially an indie, if it features adorable animal protagonists. The concept is a perfect execution of cute and eccentric, whimsical and ridiculous. What first drew me to SkateBIRD was the quirkiness of the project: a game where birds perform tricks on skateboards, shredding halfpipes and popping ollies. But after several frustrating and tedious hours that consistently felt more like a chore than genuine fun to play, I am disheartened to report that SkateBIRD is one of the most disappointing games I’ve played this year. In some respects, I was immediately taken in by certain superficial aspects of SkateBIRD. (Okay, I got my bird puns out of the way I’ll leave the rest to others.) So when I received an opportunity to review the game ahead of release, I eagerly took the chance to do so. I have been eagerly following the development of SkateBIRD on Twitter for nearly three years, and it flapped its way towards the top of my Steam wishlist and perched itself there ever since. Even the meme potential of this game feels heavily contrived, like this game only exists because "HAHAHAHA PIGEON ON SKATEBOARD SO FUNNIE XDDDDDD." Games like SkateBIRD make me thankful that Game Pass exists, because I think it's criminal to charge $17.99 for this trash.Our thanks to Glass Bottom Games for providing an advance review copy of SkateBIRD on Steam. But for all the things that SkateBIRD does right, it does about ten different things wrong. The Screm button is also a really good way to prolong combos that doesn't utterly break the game like the Revert trick in THPS3 and later Tony Hawk's games does. The FANCY meter, which bases your speed, hangtime and jump height on how many tricks you can perform without bailing, is a good idea. I will give Glass Bottom some credit though. Missions and NPCs aren't properly highlighted nor signposted and while the missions themselves would be easy with working physics, wrangling with the controls makes them far more difficult than they should be. Playing through the game's story mode is also an exercise in frustration. I have genuinely clipped (and bailed) through objects and have been stuck on obstacles. The transfer button doesn't work properly and just flings you away from a quarter pipe without standing you upright or transferring you to the other pipe. Your character controls with the finesse and precision of a drunk driver. The controls and physics are notoriously bad. ![]() I don't know whether this is to mask performance issues or to give the perspective that you're playing a bird (which doesn't make sense since the game's in third-person.) This blur cannot be switched off, by the way - at least not on the Xbox One version. Graphically it looks ugly and has nauseating amounts of blur on distant objects. SkateBIRD is a shockingly bad game for many reasons. Yes, even THPS5 is better than this trash. But their transgressions with the Tony Hawk's series are paltry compared to the turd that Glass Bottom Games plopped onto storefronts. I thought they were an utterly incompetent developer that couldn't implement working physics and good game design in skateboarding games to save their own lives. I thought they were an utterly Can't believe I'm about to say this, but I owe the workers and management of Robomodo an apology. Can't believe I'm about to say this, but I owe the workers and management of Robomodo an apology. ![]()
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